Tips from the riding technique trainer: The secret to jumping - airtime at last!

Airtime is probably the best feeling you can get - in many fun sports, but especially in mountain biking. Hopping over a jump, flying into the air, experiencing the feeling of weightlessness and then landing again in a controlled manner - that creates a feeling of happiness. The crux of the matter: you need skills, practice and risk tolerance to land a jump in a controlled manner. As if that wasn't hard enough, high jumps require even more experience. After all, although many mountain bikers jump, very few manage to jump properly (with plenty of airtime). Why is that? We asked riding technique expert Stefan Herrmann.

FREERIDE: Others jump high, you're stuck to the ground or flying low. Why is that?

Stefan Herrmann: The others! Who are the others? You might see someone flying past in the bike park and think: awesome airtime! But that's not really worth anything, because you have no idea how much they've trained and how much talent they have. It's nice to look at, but it has no meaning for you. Because you have to be able to cope with your possibilities, your talent, your equipment and your framework conditions. And above all: with your number of repetitions.

Number of repetitions?

The number of repetitions is the key to success. The higher, the better. To be good at jumping, you have to jump a hell of a lot - it's that simple! The other recipe for success: a slow increase. This is a process that can take years and basically never ends.

You also mentioned the material.

The bike plays a role. I've been riding my Canyon Sender big bike recently and often jumped too short and lost momentum. Big bikes are simply slower and require a lot more physical effort on flatter jump sections such as the "99 Jumps" in Schladming. Then I switched to the more agile Torque, an enduro/freeride bike, and made it to the landing.

However, when the speed and the jump distance increased, such as on the Vink-Line in Chatel, I had to be much more careful with the enduro bike. Because the bike is shorter. That's why you have less room to manoeuvre in the air and reach your limits faster. In addition to skill level, material is also a big issue.

Nevertheless, the comparison with others is frustrating. Some can do it, but you can't.

Understandable. People are impressed by their immediate surroundings and the media. This creates exaggerated expectations. But jumping on a mountain bike is difficult, but it can be learnt. However, you have to practise intensively to be able to do it. I started working specifically on my jumping technique four years ago. My main route is the Hotshots in Leogang. Some days I ski the course 10 times just to consolidate my technique. I did 400 jumps in one day.

I estimate that I've done 15,000 jumps in the last few years to internalise the technique. And to clear my head for the next step. I can always feel it when I'm already looking for the next jump in the air. This shows me that I'm controlling everything so that I'm ready for the next jump. Important: continuity - it's better to do smaller jumps reliably than to shine once on a big jump.

... where there is a particularly high risk of falling and all that progress going to hell again.

Yes, that can happen. The learning process is three steps forward, one step back. After a crash, you have to rebuild yourself. That happened to me on the Hotshots course and I didn't even crash, I just rode "badly". I tried to do too much too quickly, my confidence wasn't there and nothing worked out. So I decided to ride other routes to gain confidence. Only then did I ride hotshots again.

How important is self-confidence?

You can't do without it. I've been preaching this for 25 years: Visualise the movement before executing it. In other words: you have to "see" the jump, have confidence in it, only then are you relaxed enough to actually jump it. You have to feel comfortable - that's the prerequisite for actively jumping off. And the jump is the be-all and end-all for the flight phase and landing. So it's always about staying loose, staying loose, staying loose. Otherwise you will cramp up and the airtime will become a dead end.

When does the Deadsailor happen?

Whenever people overextend themselves, force themselves to jump, feel uncomfortable and still take the plunge. Anyone who puts too much pressure on themselves or is too careless will inevitably get into trouble. The motto for motor learning is: don't change anything until you have achieved automatism. This means: calm breathing, resting pulse, relaxed head, relaxed muscles. Only then can I attempt a bigger jump. Not before! That would be reckless.

A classic situation in the bike park: You jump a jump line for the first time, jump too short, but after a few runs you manage the jumps. Your explanation?

On the first run, you didn't know the situation and were therefore hesitant out of caution, perhaps even a little tense out of fear. That's why you didn't manage the active jump, because you need self-confidence for that. With a few more runs, your confidence grew and lo and behold, you managed to land.

Nevertheless, it sometimes happens that you feel up to the jump and still don't have enough airtime to make it to the landing. What's going wrong?

There can be a very small dynamic stretch in the legs that you don't even notice because the stress level is already too high. I experience this when I'm cycling with my friend Chris. He's a BMXer. Thanks to his BMX experience, he has a much more effective leg extension, which he learnt over the years at a young age. Although we both seem to do the same thing when we jump, he flies much higher and further.

Your number 1 tip for learning to jump?
Patience. People want too much. Be honest with yourself, your self-assessment has to be right. Only then will you gain self-confidence. I notice this again and again in my riding technique courses. But that doesn't work. But of course they are driven by the media, Insta, FREERIDE etc. The social pressure to perform also spills over into recreational sports. Everyone wants to style through the air like Jaxson Riddle, even if you only ride in the bike park 2-3 times a year.

And then you read in FREERIDE about 16-year-old Patricia Druwen, who, less than three years after receiving a mountain bike as a gift, is competing and is now a Red Bull athlete.

... and you've been biking for 20 years and still can't make the bigger jumps in Schladming. Yes, I know that can be frustrating. But, Patricia's exceptional talent aside, there's no substitute for practice. If you want your jumps to get better, then practise them. I say: the skills will come at some point. Take the pressure off. Take your time, have fun practising! And that brings us to another sticking point: the practice opportunities. If you live near a bike park or a dirt spot, it's obviously much easier than if you live somewhere where there's nothing.

What are good practice jumps for beginners?

Table jumps that you can easily see. Like the table line in the Geisskopf bike park. These are ideal learning jumps. My tip: Roll through the line first without jumping off. This will prepare your body and mind. This is how BMXers train. Once you've done a jump well, take the time to close your eyes briefly and go through the movement again. This consolidates the movement pattern.

On the keyword: movement patterns. I have to clear up some nonsense that keeps being spouted: The jumping technique would be similar to the bunny hop. This is not true and can even be dangerous and end in a fall. In a bunny hop, you move forwards dynamically to pull up the rear wheel. If you do this during the jump, you catapult over the handlebars. The jump is more like a pig hop, without the strong rocking movement from front to back of the bunny hop.

What is your secret to airtime?

Take your time. Increase slowly, step by step. When in doubt, say no. I am very consistent. If I don't "see" a jump that I've already jumped several times, I don't do it. I feel inside myself. There are days when everything works out. And there are days when nothing works. You should also sensitise yourself to this, because a fall sets you back in the learning process - even if you haven't injured yourself. But your self-confidence always takes a knock, in other words: your airtime confidence is shaken. So don't do things by halves!

Do you also offer special jump courses at the MTB Academy?

Yes, all Enduro Flow Camps, Freeride Camps and of course the Air Camps focus on the right jumping technique.

More on the topic: "Jumping"

Do your jumps feel like a wet sack going downhill?! Your airtime is in the tenths of a second range? We show you in 5 steps how to improve your riding technique when jumping on your MTB! In our interview, a sports scientist also explains what the head has to do to make the body want to fly. And some professionals reveal their tips.